Favorite Restaurants of The Past

Any .99 cent shrimp cocktail Downtown.

 

Dupars at GG #frenchdip

 

May be a weird one but teenage me loved the IP buffet Way better than Xcal’s buffet for sure and the entire family liked it

 

Canal Street at the Orleans.

 

The Oasis buffet at the Sahara circa 1991. Dinner $5.95
The Riviera coffee shop, for the $8.95 steak and lobster special circa 1994
Dunes coffee shop, for the $4.95 prime rib dinner, circa 1982. Ate there with my sister, otherwise unaccompanied, when I was 11 and she was 9. Truly one of the great dinners of my life.

Whether I would still appreciate the food at these places as much as I did when I was young and comparatively penniless is an open question. But I probably would.

Not included: snack bar at the Boardwalk casino, circa 1993. The 99 cent turkey dinner was a total ripoff. Really.

Thanks for asking.

 

Derek Stevens needs to bring back the Mermaids fried food lolsob

 

Smith and Wollensky’s

 

I was kinda partial to the Coasta Cantina and the old Courtyard Cafe at the Orleans.

 

Sultan's table in the Dunes if you are an old buck like me...talk about classy *****

 

Alize at the top of the Palms. Top-notch food, first-rate service, and a gorgeous view. We had our 20th anniversary dinner celebration there with a dozen friends. Sadly, we won't be able to do that for our 25th next year...

 

Pullman Grill @ MSS. Fortunately, we were in town when the Redwood Grill (temporarily) relocated there in 2016 and got another last meal there.

 

So many I forgot.
Skillet breakfasr at the Courtyard Cafe
Shrimp cocktail at GG Deli
Ribeye in Plumb and BBQ suaces at the Canal St. Many times over.
Did I mention the Surf Buffet at the Boardwalk? No? Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Roxy's Diner at The STRAT .

 

Most of my old past faves have been mentioned.
The Copper Cart in the Riviera, the first time I had Prime Rib with horseradish sauce
Victoria room for prime rib special & the hot dog cart by the sports book & margarita bar in Barbary Coast
The old deli in Golden Gate had a great corned beef sand & then a shrimp cocktail
It's still there but the BBQ at Ellis Island. I miss the old outdoor screened in patio porch where they smoked everything
My 35yr old son misses the foot long hot dog at Slots of Scum.
In the last 45 years, I can't remember them all until it's brought to my attention.I can't even remember all of the places I've stayed. A lot of them are gone.

 

Spago at CP. I loved this place when the food was good. The new one with a view has neither good food nor decent service.

 

Just remembered. The little deli by the old sportsbook at Sam's Town. They had flat out the best chicken salad san on earth. Other good items too, but that was my go to.

 

I can't remember the name (if it had one) but the greasy spoon at Silver City
made the best friggin' flat top grill cheese burgers.
They kinda reminded me of The Billy Goat Tavern ''cheezeboygers''.

 

I ate there a lot when we stayed at the Imp and never had a bad buffet. It was upstairs as I recall. Site of my first ever comp. It's hard to ruin eggs and bacon.

 

I think the reputation was worse than it actually was. If you wanted a quick breakfast or lunch and did not expect haute cuisine, it was handy and usually did not have much of a line.

But some buffet "chefs" sure try!

One of my pet peeves is the nasty buffet scrambled eggs! That is one of the most simple dishes to do, but sooo many buffets do such a vile job of it! You can make tasty scrambled eggs easily, even with generic Sysco egg mix, even a large batch. Some buffets do it right! Why can't the others do it?

 

I'm going to throw this out there... Aria Cafe. Used to love this place for breakfast when it first opened. They had something called the deuces wild which included eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and hash browns (maybe a pancake as well?) for a little less than $20. Solid breakfast, great service. Over the years you got less and the price went up. Service slipped as well.